Study of Gold, Copper and Nickel Adsorption, from their Acidic Chloride Solutions, Onto Activated Carbon

In this paper, a simple and effective method for gold recovery is described. The paper describes a way to recover gold onto activated carbon from a synthetic solution of gold(III) chloride. The method can also be used on nickel(II) as well as copper(II) chloride of where the metal ion ratios are comparable to the metal ratios found in some electronic waste. With the use of activated carbon in the process of electrolyte purification it is possible to selectively remove gold in metallic form from the solution. XPS studies have confirmed that metallic gold is present on the carbon surface. A spectrophotometric method was used to determine the concentration of Au(III) in the solution. Different concentration of nickel(II) as well as copper(II) were investigated. In all cases, adsorption and reduction of Au(III) to the metallic form was observed.